By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said Wednesday that it has agreed to pay $2.95 billion to settle a U.S. class action brought by investors seeking to recoup money they claim to have lost as a result of a corruption scandal.
Petrobras, as the company is known, did not admit wrongdoing under the deal, … [Read more...]

A drillship worker was killed last week in an accident on the rig floor of a Petrobras-contracted drillship in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico about 172 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has confirmed.
The offshore oil and gas operator, Petrobras America, reported that the fatality occurred onboard the Petrobras … [Read more...]

By Aluisio Alves and Marta Nogueira SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA has asked Odebrecht's offshore drilling arm to halt operations of a rig, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday, after an explosion there killed three people in June.
Petrobras also threatened to cancel contracts related to … [Read more...]

SAO PAULO, June 9 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA on Friday reported an explosion on the NS 32 drill ship, which is operated by Odebrecht Óleo e Gás, a unit of Odebrecht SA, according to a statement.
The explosion wounded four people, three of them with burns and one with mild injuries, according to the statement. There was no … [Read more...]

By Marta Nogueira (Reuters) - The transportation unit of Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras said on Thursday that it planned to cancel orders for 17 tankers and other vessels designed to upgrade the largest shipping fleet in the Americas.
"We decided to revoke the contracts for those ships," Antonio Silvino, head of Transpetro, told reporters during a … [Read more...]

By Sabrina Valle and Samy Adghirni
(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s Congress voted on Wednesday night to open up its pre-salt oil fields to foreign investors by scrapping Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s obligation to be the area’s sole operator.
The legislation was approved by a 292-to-101 vote, following a bad-tempered debate during which opponents, many dressed in the orange … [Read more...]

The platform supply vessel UP Safira suffered a fire Tuesday in Macaé, Brazil.
The vessel is currently on a 4-year charter contract with Petrobras, which commenced in October 2014. The vessel is owned by Ultrapetrol and operated through UP Offshore.
gCaptain is told that the fire was brought under control by the vessel's crew and with assistance from the oil spill … [Read more...]